NYU Professor Has Camera Surgically Removed From Head

NEW YORK, N.Y. — An assistant arts professor from New York, who installed a camera into the back of his head, may have been the envy of every parent until his body began to reject the implant.

New York University photography professor Wafaa Bilal had the camera implanted as part of an art project.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, The camera was held by three posts connected to an implanted titanium base. Unfortunately, for Bilal this setup caused him constant pain as his body rejected the device. Despite treatment with antibiotics and steroids, Bilal was forced to have the posts surgically removed.

An assistant arts professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Bilal was commissioned to implant the camera for the period of one year by a museum in Qatar. The museum has been displaying a live stream of the photos as part of a project titled “The 3rd I”.

In the initial surgery, three titanium plates, each with a post attached, were inserted underneath a large flap of skin on the back of Bilal’s skull. The skin was then reattached, concealing the plates but not the posts that acted as a base for the 10-megapixel camera.

Undaunted by his recent set back Bilal says as soon as his current wounds heal, he plans to try out a different setup —one with a lighter camera.

For those of you perplexed as to why anyone would risk his health by slicing his head open, installing a camera, and walking around snapping a picture every 60 seconds, Bilal had a simple reply: “It’s a performance.”

the young professor will make sure that the show goes on by crudely “tying the camera to the back of his neck” until he can get a new implant